No. 1998.

032

A Rationalized Well Density Study for Steam Injection Recovery in

Heavy Oil Reservoirs
Xie Peigong, Pu Haiyang, and Xu Xinwei, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration
and Development, CNPC, Beijing, China; and Zhang Xiuwen and Lin Yuqiu, Research
Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Liaohe Petroleum Exploration
Bureau, CNPC, Liaohe Oilfield, China

Abstract use methods of economic evaluation to optimize the most rea-

Most heavy oil reservoirs in China are developed with steam sonable well spacing according to the investment, output and
stimulation and steam drive at present. Well spacing has production efficiency.
direct effect on the profits of steam stimulation and steam The performance prediction model is based on Marx-Lan-
drive. This paper analyzes the mechanism of steam injection genheim model1 and developed from Boberg-Lantz model.2 It
recovery, according to the characteristics of heavy oil reser- uses analytical method to calculate the production perfor-
voirs, establishes the analytical model on the basis of heat mance according to the theories of energy balance, material
transfer and energy balance, and determines the method to balance and percolation flow. The model can calculate the area
optimize well spacing of steam. A numerical simulator is of the steam bank and the hot water bank, the average temper-
developed and its reliability is verified. ature of the heated region and the oil and water production
rate.
In the calculation of production performance of multicycle
steam stimulation, we need the injection and production
Introduction parameters and the cyclic producing time. At the end of each
The main methods of steam injection development for heavy cycle, the abandonment productivity index is calculated by the
oil reservoirs are steam stimulation and steam drive. For the following formula, which is derived from statistical regres-
developed oil fields present technology dictates steam stimu- sion:
lation followed by steam drive if the reservoir is suitable for m=0.2271—0.0189´n
steam drive. The well spacing which is not appropriate to m—the abandonment productivity index, (t/m×day)
steam drive must be adjusted. But it is still necessary to deter-
n—the number of steam stimulation cycles
mine what would be the optimum well spacing in order to
obtain the maximum economic benefit. When the oil production rate is less than m´h (the net
thickness of the oil reservoirs), the steam stimulation cycle is
The well spacing of the steam stimulation is directly rele-
terminated and starts to calculate the next cycle automatically.
vant to the economic benefit. The optimum well spacing is
determined such that cyclic steam stimulation can get the best How to decide the cutoff date of the steam stimulation
economic benefit. According to the experience of steam drive, depends on the oil-steam ratio (OSR) of the last cycle, which
the well spacing directly influences the success of steam drive is determined by the market price of the crude oil (generally
operation. Many researchers are searching for the principles ranges from 0.15–0.3).
and the methods of determining appropriate well spacing for 1. The Calculation of the Reasonable Well Spacing in Steam
steam drive. It is, therefore, very important to investigate an Stimulation
appropriate well spacing for both steam stimulation and steam The analytical model of steam stimulation can calculate
drive. the oil production at various well spacings. Combine the
oil production with the investment, production cost and
the price of crude oil to decide the economic benefit for
unit area. The well spacing under which the maximum
Study of Rationalized Well economic benefit can be obtained is the most rationalized
Spacing in Steam Stimulation well spacing:
To determine the rationalized well spacing for steam stimula- Ec = (oil cost-pro) ´ oil ´ (1+ic)-t - inv ´ num
tion, we first use a performance prediction model to calculate
2. Analysis of the Influence Factors
the total production during the entire producing period, then

1
 There are many factors which influence the well spacing • With the input of reasonable well spacing data into the
of steam stimulation. The rationalized well spacing of model, to calculate oil recovery and economic benefits.
steam stimulation is analyzed according to different oil Then to decide whether the well spacing is a favorable
prices and different effective thicknesses of oil reservoirs. one or not.
• The effect of oil prices on the rationalized well spacing By the iterative procedure, we know the calculation is
of steam stimulation: under the assumption of four dif- converging to an asymptotic solution.
ferent crude oil prices 750 RMB Yuan/t, 900 RMB 2. The critical values of injection production parameters in
Yuan/t, 1,030 RMB Yuan/t and 1,300 RMB Yuan/t, we steam drive: in steam drive, the steam injection rate of
have calculated the steam stimulation economic benefit unit reservoir volume, the production injection ratio and
based on different well spacing for a one square kilo- the bottom hole steam quality have their critical values. In
meter oil field. The results are illustrated in Table 1 1979, Farouq Ali and Meldau4 summarized that the steam
and Figure 1 . If other factors remain the same, the injection rate of many successful steam drive projects
higher the oil price, the larger the rationalized well ranges from 1–2 bbl/d×acre×ft. At present, it is generally
spacing. According to Figure 1 , if the well spacing is recognized that the steam injection rate has a critical
larger than 200ha/well (the well spacing is 141.4m) value of (1.6–2.0) m3/d×ha×m. And at medium steam qual-
and smaller than 100ha/well (the well spacing is ity of 40%, steam drive can get good result. The critical
100m), the economic benefit declines rapidly. value of production injection ratio normally ranges from
• The effect of effective thickness on the rationalized 1.2–1.5. Only when these three critical values are satis-
well spacing of steam stimulation: under the same con- fied at the same time, can we get the better result of steam
ditions and oil price of RMB 1,030 Yuan/t, the effec- drive. Otherwise, the steam drive benefit declines rap-
tive thicknesses are 15m, 25m, 35m, and 45m, next idly. The well spacing must be optimized in order to meet
calculate the economic benefits of different well spac- the three conditions at the same time.
ings in unit area. The results are shown in Table 2 and The injection rate in unit volume and the production
Figure 2 . Apparently, the thicker the effective thick- injection ratio are generally influenced by the depth of the
ness, the larger the well spacing. reservoir, the net-gross ratio and the steam quality. If the
oil reservoir is shallow, the net-gross ratio is large and the
steam quality at the bottom hole is high, the steam injec-
tion rate of unit volume is (1.6~1.7) m3/(d×ha×m) and the
Study of the Rationalized Well production injection ratio ranges from 1.3 to 1.4; if the
Spacing in Steam Drive condition is poor, the steam injection rate should be (1.8–
The well spacing directly influences the economic benefit of 2.0) m3/(d×ha×m) and the production injection ratio ranges
steam drive. The rationalized well spacing of steam drive is from 1.2–1.3.
decided based on the critical values of the operation parame- 3. Optimize well spacing in steam drive:5
ters in steam drive.
Only when the three process parameters are greater than
The Farouq Ali model3 is used in the performance predic- their critical values, the steam drive will be successful and
tion of steam drive. It has considered the gravity separation of gets better results. The formula for the well spacing is as
steam and the existence of hot water region in front of the follows:
steam drive. It can predict the reliable production of oil and
d = 100 ´ [n ´ q1/(Qs ´ ho ´ Fa ´ Rpi)]1/2
water, the volume and thickness of the steam bank, the aver-
age temperature of heated region, and oil saturation. The empirical formula about the bottom hole steam qual-
1. The method of optimizing the rationalized well spacing in ity:
steam drive: once the reservoir geology in fully under- Qydh=Qyuh - (2.88/qs+0.005) ´ D
stood, and the characteristic parameters of the reservoir (the formula is suitable for the steam injection well with
and crude oil reservoir fluids are in place, we can perform the depth ranges from 900m to 1,600m).
calculations for a well pattern according to the recovery
plan. The calculation is started with 100m well spacing Now judge whether the steam injection rate can be oper-
with the following iterative procedures: ated on a well spacing according to the field conditions if
the answer is yes, then continue the next step. Otherwise,
• To determine the oil productivity and liquid productiv- the well spacing must be changed until the well spacing is
ity of individual well in the well pattern; suitable for the steam injection rate. If the bottom hole
• To determine steam injection rate and the well spacing steam quality is greater than 40%, reasonable well spac-
according to the critical values of the production injec- ing is obtained. Otherwise it must be adjusted. The well
tion ratio and the steam injection rate in unit volume; spacing which could get the best economic benefit is the
• To judge the rationality of the well spacing according most reasonable one. Combine the known price, invest-
to the critical value of steam quality and the factual ment, and production cost with the calculated well spac-
process conditions; and ing to figure out the total economic benefit.

2
Application Cases Figure 4 indicates that the steam drive under the condi-
tion of inverted nine-spot pattern with the distance of 77m
Optimization of the Well Spacing About between neighboring producers can obtain the best eco-
the Steam Stimulation of Upper Layers nomic benefit.
in Du 66 Block, Liaohe Oil Field
1. The introduction of the upper layers, Du 66 block: The
average depth of the reservoir is about 930m and its aver-
age effective thickness is 24.8m. It is an interbed reservoir
Discussion
of sandstone and shales with the net-gross ratio of 0.38.
The average porosity is 0.255 and the permeability is 1. For the reservoirs which could be converted into steam
0.548mm2. The dead oil viscosity ranges from 330mPa×s drive after steam stimulation, the rationalized well spac-
to 616mPa×s at the reservoir temperature. The reservoir ing in steam stimulation should be consistent with the
pressure is (9.39–11.38) MPa and reservoir temperature is rationalized well spacing of steam drive.
57.3°C. The original oil saturation is 0.65. 2. The calculation of heavy oil recovery by steam injection
2. Study of steam stimulation under different well spacing: is based on an analytical model. The steam injection rate
we predicted the production performance at different well in unit volume, the production injection ratio and the bot-
spacing that is 200, 100, 50, and 25ha/well based on the tom hole steam quality must be satisfied with their
history match of production performance and the optimi- respective critical values at the same time in order to
zation of injection parameters. The results are in Table 3 . determine the rationalized well spacing.
3. Optimization of the reasonable well spacing in steam 3. The best rationalized well spacing should be close to eco-
stimulation: the prediction model of steam stimulation nomic conditions.
provided oil production different well spacings. Accord- 4. The calculation results of rationalized well spacing in
ing to the preliminary statistics, the investment of each some of the onshore heavy oil reservoirs in China are
well is 170´104 RMB Yuan and the production cost is 534 listed in Table 6 .
RMB Yuan/t. The economic benefits of unit area 1 km2
for different well spacings are calculated when the oil
price is 1,030 RMB Yuan/t. Figure 3 shows that the rea-
sonable well spacing is 122ha/well and the distance Nomenclature
between wells is 110m. Ec Economic benefit, 104 RMB Yuan
oilcost Oil price, RMB Yuan/t
oil The oil production during steam stimulation
The Optimization of the Well Spacing
in Steam Drive of Qi 40 Block, Liaohe period in unit area, 104t
Oil Field inv The investment of individual well, 104 RMB
1. The brief introduction of reservoir characteristics and the Yuan/well
injection parameters: the Liaohe QI 40 Lian II reservoirs
num The number of wells
of Qi 40 block in Liaohe oil field is 3.9km2 in size and
622m to 1,050m deep. The net thickness is 27.7m and the pro Cost of production, (except depreciation and
porosity is 0.307. The permeability is 1.194mm2. The ini- interest) RMB Yuan/t
tial reservoir temperature is 37°C and the oil viscosity is ic Discount rate, f
1,089 mPa•s under reservoir conditions. The original oil
t Cumulative production time in steam stimulation,
saturation is 75% and the density of crude oil is 0.9707.
year
2. Determination of fluid productivity of the individual well
and the well spacing: introduce the above-mentioned d Spacing of adjacent wells, m
indexes into the analytical model. The average fluid pro- n The ratio of production well number and
duction rate is 52 m3/d and its maximum is 72 m3/d. The injection well number, f
steam injection rate of unit volume is 2.0 m3/(d×ha×m) and q1 Liquid production rate of individual well, m3/d
the production injection ratio is 1.2. The range of reason-
able well spacing is illustrated in Table 4 . Qs Steam injection rate of unit volume, m3/
3. Determination of optimum well spacing: introduce the (d×ha×m)
data into the analytical model to calculate the recovery h0 Effective thickness, m
factor and obtain the economic benefit under the oil price
FA The area factor of well pattern, (5 spot: 1.0,
of 1,030 RMB Yuan/t. The results are shown in Table 5
and Figure 4 . inverted seven-spot: 2.6, inverted nine-spot:
4.0), f

3
Rpi Production injection ratio, f References
Qydh Bottom hole steam quality,% 1. Marx, J. W and Langenheim, R. H: “Reservoir Heating
Qyup Steam quality at well head,% by Hot Fluid Injection”, Trans., AIME (1959) 216, 312–
314.
qs Steam injection rate (cold water equivalent),
2. Boberg, T.C and Lantzs, R.B: “Calculation of the Produc-
m3/d tion Rate of a Thermally Stimulated Well”, J. Pet. Tech.
D Depth of reservoirs, m (Dec. 1996), 1613–1623, Trans, AIME, 237.
3. S.M. Farouq Ali “Steam Injection Theories-A United
Approach” SPE 10746, 1982.
4. S.M. Faroug Ali and R.F.Meldau, “Current Steamflood
Acknowledgment Technology “, JPT. 1979, (10): 1332–1342.
We acknowledge the contribution of Li Pingke Xie Chenghua, 5. Yue Qingshan et al "New method of optimal conceptual
who translated this paper into English. design for steam drive" SPECIAL OIL & GAS RESER-
VOIRS 1997, Vol. 4. No.4 (Total No.13).

4
 750Yuan/t 900Yuan/t 1030Yuan/t 1300Yuan/t

316.0m 10.0 24.7 35.0 61.0

223.6m 22.5 53.7 61.3 143.5

141.4m 16.0 75.0 128.0 247.2

100.0m -34.0 32.7 104.0 254.0

70.7m -181.0 -90.0 -23.8 161.3

50.0m -504.0 -375.0 -274.0 -62.0

* the economic benefits in 1(km2) ( 106Yuan)

Table 1: The Economic Benefits Under Different Crude Oil Prices and Different Well Spacings

15m 25m 35m 45m

316.0m 13.7 32.5 55.0 76.2

223.6m 28.7 71.2 126.2 177.6

141.4m 38.7 127.5 214.2 303.0

100.0m -6.7 103.7 217.8 330.0

70.7m -143.9 -16.0 118.7 244.7

50,0m -430.0 -278.0 -128.0 21.9

* the economic benefits in 1(km2) ( 106Yuan)

Table 2: The Economic Benefits Under Different Depths of Oil Reservoir Different Well Spacings

5
 well added production cumulative cumulative recovery OSR
produc- steam injec- oil produc-
spacing time (%)
tion tion tion
(m) (d)
cycles (104t) (104t)

141.4. 5 1440 4.0 2.30 6.80 0.575

100.0 4 1200 6.4 3.56 10.51 0.556

70.7 3 940 9.6 4.19 12.39 0.437

50.0 2 659 12.8 5.35 15.81 0.418

Table 3: The Comparison of Development Results for Different Well Spacings in Individual Well Pattern in Du66 Block

wellpattern averageliquidproduction maximumliquidproduction distance of rationality

rate of individual well rate of individual well adjacent
(m 3d) (m 3d) wells

five-spot 52 72 88–104 N

inverse- 52 72S 78–01 N

seven-spot
inverse-nine- 52 72 70–82 Y
spot

Table 4: The Rationality of Reasonable Well Spacing of in Qi40 Block Lian2 Reservoir

well produc- cumulative oil OSR recovery profit in 1(km) 2

spacing tion time productionofawellpattern (%)

(10 6 Yuan)
(m) (d) (10 4m 3)
70 1240 138.0 0.20 34.5 203.6

75 1310 155.6 0.223 38.9 311.4

77 1360 152.8 0.220 38.2 309.4

80 1280 136.4 0.218 34.1 269.0

85 1200 100.8 0.187 25.2 121.2

Table 5: The Well Spacing Optimization of Lian2 Reservoirs Qi40 Block in Steam Drive

6
 distance of
block oil reservoir development scheme adjacent
wells
(m)

DU 66 steam stimulation 110

JIN 45 YU1 stimulation and steam drive 89.5

QI 40 LIAN2 stimulation and steam drive 77.0

SHU 175 DALINHE stimulation and steam drive 75.8

WA 38 S3 stimulation and steam drive 78.0

GAO 3 6 sand body steam stimulation 105.0

JIU1-2 stimulation and steam drive 81.0

SHAN 2 S3 steam stimulation 110.0

Table 6: The Calculation Results of Reasonable Well Spacing about Some Onshore Heavy Oil Reservoirs in China

Figure 1: Steam Stimulation Economic Benefits Under Different Oil Prices and Different Well Spacings in Unit Area (1Km2)

7
Figure 2: The Steam Stimulation Economic Benefits Under Different Effectuve Thickness Each and
Different Well Spacings in Unit Area (1Km2)

Figure 3: The Steam Stimulation Economic Benefits Under Different Well Spacings of Unit (1km2) in
Upper Layers of DU66 Block in LIAOHE Oil Field

8
Figure 4: The Economic Benefits of Unit Area (1km2) of Different Well Spacings of Qi40 Block in LIAOHE Oil Field